The Paris Criminal Court convicted Spanish operator Swiftair of involuntary manslaughter on September 28, 2026, over the crash of Air Algérie flight AH5017 in Mali, an accident that killed all 116 people on board in July 2014.

The ruling closes the first-instance phase of a case that took more than 12 years to reach judgment.

Trial centered on crew training

Swiftair stood trial in Paris as a legal entity from March 9 to March 26, 2026. Prosecutors requested a €225,000 fine — the maximum penalty a company can face for involuntary manslaughter under French law. Swiftair's lawyers sought an acquittal, arguing that external factors caused the accident.

The French investigating magistrates who sent the case to trial had pointed to failings by the company, notably in how the crew was trained.

The safety investigation found that neither pilot had received training or checks on approach-to-stall or stall recovery since joining Swiftair. Those exercises were scheduled for a simulator session in November 2014, four months after the accident. Investigators could not establish when the pilots had last undergone such training at their former employer, Spanair.

Investigators also recorded a similar event involving another Swiftair MD-83 just 46 days before the disaster. On June 8, 2014, EC-JUG began losing speed at FL330 with the autothrottle engaged. Its crew descended and activated engine anti-icing before the aircraft stalled, and the flight continued normally.

Before the trial, Swiftair tried to halt the French case on double-jeopardy grounds, citing a provisional dismissal of proceedings in Spain. In April 2025, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) found a referral from the Paris court inadmissible. In November 2025, French judges rejected a second attempt to send questions to the CJEU.

Swiftair has the right to appeal the judgment issued on September 28, 2026.

Iced sensors preceded unrecovered MD-83 stall

On July 24, 2014, the McDonnell Douglas MD-83, registered EC-LTV and wet-leased with its crew from Swiftair, departed Ouagadougou Airport (OUA) in Burkina Faso for Algiers Houari Boumediene Airport (ALG).

It crashed near Gossi, in northern Mali, about 50 minutes after takeoff. The 110 passengers included 54 French nationals and 23 Burkinabe citizens. The six crew members were Spanish.

Mali led the safety investigation, with technical assistance from France's Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA).

Investigators found that ice crystals had likely blocked the engine pressure sensors after the crew did not switch on engine anti-icing during the climb and cruise at 31,000 feet. The resulting false readings caused the autothrottle to limit engine thrust, and the aircraft slowed until it stalled.

Flight data showed the crew made no stall-recovery maneuver. The cockpit voice recorder data could not be used.

Second French conviction in a major crash case this year

The Swiftair ruling comes four months after the Paris Court of Appeal convicted Air France and Airbus of involuntary manslaughter over the 2009 crash of flight AF447.

Iced sensors, crew response and training were also central to that case. Each company received the €225,000 maximum fine. Airbus has appealed to the Court of Cassation.

Swiftair, now majority-owned by Antin Infrastructure Partners, operates mainly cargo flights. A Swiftair Boeing 737-400 freighter flying for DHL crashed near Vilnius Airport (VNO) on November 25, 2024, killing one pilot.

An appeal by Swiftair would extend the AH5017 proceedings further into their second decade, keeping French judicial scrutiny of the operator's training practices in the record for years to come.